SnO2 nanotubes fabricated using electrospinning and atomic layer deposition and their gassensing performance

Abstract

A novel method is developed to fabricate aSnO2 nanotube network by utilizing electrospinning and atomic layer deposition (ALD), andthe network sensor is proven to exhibit excellent sensitivity to ethanol owing toits hollow, nanostructured character. The electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN)nanofibers of 100–200 nm diameter are used as a template after stabilization at250 °C. An uniformand conformal SnO2 coating on the nanofiber template is achieved by ALD using dibutyltindiacetate (DBTDA) as the Sn sourceat 100 °C and the wall thickness is precisely controlled by adjusting the number of ALD cycles. The calcination at700 °C transforms the amorphousnanofibers into SnO2 nanotubes composed of several nanometer-sized crystallites. TheSnO2 nanotube network sensor responds to ethanol,H2, CO,NH3 andNO2 gases, but it exhibited an extremely high gas response to ethanol with a short response time (<5 s). The results demonstrate that the combination of electrospinning and ALD is a veryeffective and promising technique to fabricate long and uniform metal oxide nanotubes withthe precise control of wall thickness, which can be applied to various applications such asgas sensors and lithium ion batteries.